Bacteria and fungi facilitate the degradation of plastic

The Postgraduate Directorate and the Master's Program in Environmental Sciences of the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences held the II National Congress and I International Congress of Environmental Sciences, a translocal commitment to the environmental management and sustainability of territories, virtually through the YouTube channel Ucundinamarca with the participation of speakers from Mexico, Uruguay, Peru and Colombia.

The presentation given by the speakers: Diana Carolina Russi Aldana, Diana Karina López Carreño and Alexandra Vásquez Ochoa, entitled “Biodegradation of expanded polystyrene (EPS), systematic review of promising organisms (Bacteria, fungi and insects) contributes to the state of the art and the compilation of research on the degradation of plastic on the planet, as an alternative for the sustainability of the territory, in addition to contributing to the sustainable development goals (SDGs).

“The partial results show the depolymerization of EPS by insect larvae such as Mealybug molitor, Zophoba morio, Zophobas atratus and Galleria Mellonella, These species contain microorganisms in their gut that facilitate the degradation of this polymer. Furthermore, chemical analyses of their excrement reveal the formation of low molecular weight compounds and carbon dioxide (CO2), confirming the mineralization of EPS. "These species are a significant contribution to the ongoing systematic review, representing an advance in the research analysis," the authors of the study emphasize..

The research study emerges as an alternative for the sustainability of the territory, taking into account population growth and inadequate consumption habits, which have generated large-scale environmental pollution from solid waste such as expanded polystyrene (EPS), whose degradation can take hundreds and thousands of years.

It is expected that, based on the construction of a data matrix, the spatial distribution of the investigations and the relationship of the competent bodies can be developed.

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